As an Electrician in Liverpool we come across many old properties such as terraced properties in areas that are historic containing homes that were built many decades ago.
“Is my consumer unit dangerous?” Is a question that we are often asked by people who are concerned about the age or condition of their electrical installation in their homes.
The answer to this is “It depends”.
Just because something is old does not necessarily mean that it is inherently dangerous.
The issue we have is that things move on. Times change. Our homes are used differently now than they were decades ago. We have many more electrical items that are connected to our installations, electric showers, electric vehicle chargers, solar power feeding in, lots of modern circuit boards contained in modern appliances and so on.
There are safety requirements in place these days that were not in place decades ago as we now recognise that it is important to have things like electric shock protection. We recognise that it is important to have surge protection to our homes to protect the wiring and all the expensive appliances that we now have.
If your home has a consumer unit / fuseboard like the one pictured above then it is a very good idea to have an electrical inspection carried out. The last type of this fuseboard was installed at best around 40 years ago. This means that the fuseboard / consumer unit and the wiring is AT LEAST 40 years old. Now I don’t know about you but if something is that old and is paramount to ensuring our safety then I would want it checked out! I would certainly not want to jump in a 40 year old car that had never had an MOT or service and drive my family down the motorway……
Fuse boxes / consumer units themselves can have connections that come loose causing overheating and potential fires. The devices in the one above can contain the wrong type of fuse wire, can lack vital electric shock protection, wiring can be added over the years that is incorrect and dangerous.
If your wiring system looks this old then as a MINIMUM you should have a safety electrical inspection carried out and likely a consumer unit / fuse board swap if the electrical installation in your home Is sufficient to withstand it.
We can carry out an electrical check, safety inspection, periodic inspections report, EICR report (all very much the same thing by the way) and can advise you what needs to be done to improve safety and bring your installation up to modern day standards. Before you carry out new kitchens and bathrooms, plastering, decorating and so forth its best to make sure that the cables inside your home do not need replacing or repair.
If you need an Electrician in Widnes, an Electrician in Liverpool or an Electrician in Warrington, we operate across a large area and have both a female electrician and a male electrician too. If you would like some free electrical advice, some peace of mind or just an informal chat about your homes electrical system then please get in touch.
